Mikey Garcia will have problems if he can’t stop Orlando Salido on Saturday

By Dan Ambrose: Unbeaten featherweight contender Mikey Garcia (30-0, 26 KO’s) has been able to destroy most of his 30 opponents during his six-year pro career with his big power shots. He’s a rare fighter that has knockout power in either hand, and he’s tough on guys that come straight at him.

On Saturday, Garcia will be facing WBO featherweight champion Orlando Salido (39-11-2, 27 KO’s) at Madison Square Garden in New York. It’s no secret that Salido is going to be coming straight Mikey the entire fight looking to pressure him and overwhelm him with power shots in the same way Salido did in his two victories over Juan Manuel Lopez.

Garcia thinks he can deal with Salido’s pressure and box him enough to get a win. I don’t know if that’s going to be possible. Mikey is going to have to be able to stand his ground in this fight and turn back Salido’s attack somehow. It’s not going to be easy because Salido is the superior fighter once he gets in close.

Mikey is a good fighter on the outside, and you’ve got to give his trainer Robert Garcia a lot of credit for that, but Robert obviously didn’t teach enough on how to fight on the inside because he’s weak in that area. Salido only has to worry about getting caught with Mikey’s shots on the way in because once he’s in close he’s going to be able to have his way.

Robert Garcia will likely be instructing Mikey to either clinch or attempt to move away when Salido comes at him, but that’s only going to work a certain amount of times. Mikey can’t move for the entire 12 rounds because he doesn’t have the wheels for that, and he’s not going to be able to clinch his way to a victory.

Salido keeps punching when his opponents grab him. He doesn’t let them have a free ride when they clinch, and Garcia is going to end up taking a lot of hard body shots if he tries to clinch for 12 rounds to escape the pressure. One thing is for sure Garcia can’t afford to fight Salido on the inside because he’s not made for inside fighting like Salido. You have to be brought up with that kind of fighting and Salido, who comes from Mexico, obviously was.